Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips One of the worst things to do in many situations is to try really, really hard. One of the best pieces of advice I received from author and consultant Jerry Weinberg is: Don’t try so hard I have to force myself to remember this when I find myself staring at something and […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the best use of time is wasting it and the most wasteful use of time is working hard. Here is a story I heard many years ago: Story Two computer programmers came to work. They both worked hard and programmed for six straight hours to the point of exhaustion. The first […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Many on-the-job frustrations come when we try to do our job. The title and summary of this blog post may not make any sense. I have, however, heard much grumbling on the job when people are asked to do their jobs. Some examples I have heard over the years: I can’t believe […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we should assign one person. We already know that, so why don’t we do it? There is some old cliche about too many cooks in the kitchen or too many cooks stirring the pot or something. There is a a current cliche about too many people in the room I head […]

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by Dwayne Phillips What is the real activity, the real attraction at work? They sell food at McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. Is food, however, the real point of the place? They sell coffee at Starbucks, but is coffee the real point of the place? I don’t think food and coffee are the real attractions at […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I’m not sure what the job title is, but every organization needs a person whose job it is to find the stupid that is hindering everyone. I have seen this every place I have worked. Somewhere in the greater organization, people—often smart, loving, caring people—are doing something that is just plain stupid. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips This is yet another job title that is constantly misused by recruiters. Software Developer: another stupid job title that reveals the ignorance of those trying to hire people. Yes, I am a software developer. No I don’t have ten years Java programming experience. Are you trying to hire a programmer or a […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I learn what a technical writer does (now that I are one). I have been working in a job titled “technical writer” for about a month now. I wasn’t sure what that job title meant or what a technical writer actually does. After an entire month or so, I have concluded that […]

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by Dwayne Phillips It is easy to let other people control your day and make it a big waste of time. Here is a story, a true story. I was at work. Later in the day I was to brief a roomful of important people. But for now, and the next few hours, I had […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes, projects and the people working on them lose their way. This is an expression I heard many times over the years. They’ve lost their way. I didn’t understand the expression. I suppose it was one of those grand mistakes that I never assumed people would make, but time showed me over […]

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